The Family Woman
by BaileyChabot
Summary: This story follows the plot of The Family Man, a movie from 2000. It's set 10 years later; Holly is the director of the pathology department at the University of California, San Francisco. She wakes up on Christmas morning to find herself in Toronto, married to Gail with their three children. Holly must discover what it is she was meant to learn during this "glimpse".
1. Chapter 1

**Golly prompt: Holly + Gail + Family Man (the movie). I don't know if you watched this movie (if you aren't, do it, it's great) 10 years later in San Francisco, Holly's guardian angel shows her what would have happened if she had stayed in Toronto with Gail...**

The Family Woman – Part 1

It's late. She's been at the office all day working on her latest research article. It was going to be published by Science, one of the most prestigious and popular science journals but she'd found a small problem with the data. She had needed to get it sorted out before the deadline which was why she was walking to a corner store on her way home. It was the only thing open this late on Christmas Eve, even in a city the size of San Francisco.

She tossed the overpriced, over-processed sandwich on the counter along with a questionable looking apple, and a small chocolate bar. She deserved a treat. The clerk started to ring in her order.

"No big Christmas dinner?" the woman asked the now Director of the Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.

"Ummmm, no. This is it" she replied sheepishly.

"Where's your family?" the clerk continued, oblivious to Holly's disinterest in the conversation.

"Well, I was supposed to go to my parents' for the holidays but something came up at work, so I'm here instead" she sighed, hoping that was enough to sate this woman's curiosity.

"Family is important, Holly. You work too hard" the clerk – Mona, Holly reads on the nametag- told her with a knowing concern.

"I… uhhhh…" Holly blinked a few times, unsure of how to respond to a complete stranger knowing her name.

"If you aren't careful, life will pass you by. And the worst part is that you won't even know it until it's too late" Mona said as she bagged up the brunette's sad dinner. Mona smiled at her as she handed her the bag and her change.

"Merry Christmas, Dr. Stewart"

"Uh, Merry Christmas to you" Holly replied cautiously as she walked out of the store.

Once she got home she ate her paltry dinner, the only thing she'd had since her oatmeal that morning and promptly fell asleep on the couch, with reruns of Cheers on the TV.

She woke up in the plush comfort of a warm bed. She stretched out, feeling the softness of the sheets against her skin. She rolled over to check the time, thinking she must have moved to her bed in the night, and is shocked to find a cat staring right back at her in place of her alarm clock.

She squinted her eyes to look around the room. Even without her glasses she could tell it's not the bare space of a bedroom she never really decorated. She could see a huge armoire against the wall, a chest of drawers along another, and what she thought must be pictures on the wall across from her- lots of pictures.

She found her glasses under the rump of the cat. _Maybe I wandered to the neighbour's somehow _she thought. Blinking a few times to get rid of the sleep induced fog in her brain, she focussed on the wall with the photographs. The wall was full of framed and unframed pictures. She got off the bed to look more closely at them, hoping to figure out where she was.

As she approached, she could see they are pictures of a family. She isn't surprised. In the centre is a nice formal shot of the three kids. One, the eldest, was a black girl with deep brown eyes who looked to be in her late teens. A boy, to her right, had olive toned skin, glasses, and looked to be about seven. The third, another girl, had pale skin and platinum blonde hair. The little girl's most striking feature however, were her eyes: piercing blue. This girl stirred memories from Holly's past, but her brain was too tired to figure out who this child reminded her of.

Holly continued to looking at the pictures. Most of them were of the three kids in various stages in their lives so far: a kindergarten graduation, a birthday party, and what appeared to be Halloween, although all three children were wearing the same police uniform.

_Huh,_ Holly thought.

Moving along the frames, she got to one with a woman who is very pregnant. It's a side portrait but the sun shining across the woman's face makes it difficult to make out her features. A deep feeling of love and warmth washed over the brunette, looking at this woman.

She continued her scan of the candid portraits when she got to what appeared to be the blonde woman from the previous photo. She was smiling brightly and looked stunning in her wedding dress. She had the cobalt eyes as the young girl in the first pictures she saw.

Holly really studied the blonde's face now, wondering why she feels so connected to her. Her eyes widened in surprise. The woman is Gail, the police officer she'd dated years ago, whom she'd left when she moved to San Francisco.

_How the hell did I get into Gail's house?_ she started panicking. _Is she in San Francisco now? Am I hallucinating? What's the longest nerve in the human body? _she tested herself. _The sciatic. Name three estimators of time of death? Temperature, rigor, and forensic entomology. I seem to be in charge of my faculties_ she thought, comforted by the fact that she can recall what she considers basic knowledge.

Still disoriented by the events of the morning, she decided to forgo any conversations with Gail and decided climbing out the window will be the best course of action. Holly was not interested in being arrested for trespassing, breaking and entering, or better yet, stalking!

Before she managed her great escape, the bedroom door flew open and in walked the teenager from the photographs. She stopped and stared at Holly.

"Holly?" she said, confused.

"Sophie" the brunette suddenly remembered.


	2. Chapter 2

The Family Woman-Part 2

"Holly?" Sophie said, "are you trying to climb out the window?"

"Ummm…" Holly didn't know what to say. She wanted to be honest, to tell her that yes, she was in fact climbing out the window. She was also pretty certain she was having a panic attack mixed with some sort of hallucination. _I must really be working too hard, _Holly thought at the ridiculousness of it all.

"Can you come downstairs like a normal human? The children are getting restless and want to open their presents. And by children, I mean Gail" Sophie interrupted her thoughts.

"What? You want me to come downstairs?" Holly sputtered.

"Ugh" Sophie sighed in the exasperated way only a teenager can master. "Come on, let's go!" She crossed the room and pulled Holly back through the window. She slamed it shut before grabbing the brunette's hand to drag her to the main floor.

It took a second, but Holly felt the unmistakable sensation of metal surrounding her ring finger. _Wedding bands_ she thought as she turned her hand over in Sophie's to confirm it. _Yep, I'm in someone else's house, wearing their weddings rings. This is bad._

"Finally!" Gail shouted when Holly stumbled into the family room.

The two youngest kids ran up to her shouting "Mommy! Mommy! Look what Santa brought!"

Holly's chest tightened. She was completely confused, and quite frankly terrified. Two children, who were certain she was their mother, were clamoring for her attention. She wanted to laugh for fear of crying. It was all too much.

She tried to take deep breaths, desperately hoping she'd wake up from this nightmare. She couldn't take all the noise so she bolted out of the room and headed for what she hoped was the kitchen. She was pacing around the island when Gail walked in.

"What is wrong with you today, Nerd? You were up half the night putting the jungle gym bunk beds together for Felix and Jane, then you don't even get out of bed to watch their faces when they see it for the first time?" Gail moved easily around the kitchen and poured two cups of coffee. She handed one to Holly, but the brunette refused to accept.

"I don't understand what's happening right now. Why am I here? Why am I not at home? I have a deadline for my research paper, not to mention next year's budget" Holly had started pacing again, the stress of the situation taking over.

"What are you talking about?" Gail interrupted. "Did you have a stroke, Lunchbox?" the blonde said as she placed a quick kiss on Holly's cheek before heading back into the other room where the two youngest were climbing on their new beds and Sophie was smiling at her new iPod.

_Too much_ thought Holly, _this is all too much._ She was moving toward the front door when it opened.

"Merry Christmas, Holly!" Bill Peck said as he came through the door with his hands full of gifts.

"Bill?" Holly asked.

"Yes?" he replied as he started setting the gifts on the floor to take off his jacket. The door opened again and in walked, who Holly already knew to be, Elaine Peck.

"Merry Christmas, Holly" she said crisply.

Holly shook her head. She grabbed a coat and started stuffing her feet in the first pair of boots she could find. She grabbed a set of car keys and ran out the door to the sound of Bill saying "where the hell is she going in such a hurry?"

The fob on the keychain unlocked a minivan that is sitting in the driveway. She looked at the licence plate just to confirm that she has somehow found herself back in Toronto. It reads Ontario. She is still somehow surprised.

After fumbling her way out of the suburban neighbourhood she's found herself in, she hit the 401, heading directly to Pearson International. She managed to get there in record time, parked it in the first spot she could find, and raced into the terminal, intent on getting on the first flight back to California, and her life.

The first airline she found that she knew flew to the western US has nobody in line and one smiling agent waiting to greet her. She's was grateful she almost didn't recognize the woman manning the desk: Mona.

"Hello, Dr. Stewart. How is your Christmas going?" she said jovially.

"Are you kidding me right now? _Hello, Dr. Stewart. How is your Christmas going?_" the usually even tempered Holly imitated the woman in a nasally voice. "What the hell is happening to me? How did I end up in Toronto? Why do two children in Canada think I'm their mother!?" she was nearly screaming now.

Mona nodded and passed Holly a brown paper bag. "This might help" she said, "take some deep breaths. People often find it very overwhelming. But if you need to puke, please tell me so I can hand you the trash can. I don't want to have to clean up like last time."

"Can you please tell me what's happening, without the cryptic bullshit!?" Holly said between puffs of her improvised inhaler.

"This is glimpse, Holly" Mona stated plainly.

"A glimpse of what?"

"What your life could have been"

Holly stared at the woman in front of her, incredulous that this could even be happening. "What my life could have been like if I were on a constant acid trip? Because that's how I feel right now! I like my life just the way it is! I've worked damn hard for it, sacrificed for it, and I want it back! So what do I need to do? How much money, huh?"

"It doesn't work like" Mona told her as she pushed away the credit card Holly pulled from the coat pocket. "You have to figure this thing out for yourself."

"Figure what out!?" Holly demanded.

"You'll just have to let it come to you"

Holly sighed as Mona looked past her and asked the next customer to step forward. She was exhausted and had nowhere else to go except back "home", so she grudgingly got back in the minivan and drove to the house she woke up in only a short while ago.

"Where the hell have you been?!" Gail shouted at her in a whispered tone, so Holly knew she was pissed but so she wouldn't upset the kids. "First you miss the kids opening their gifts, then you run out the door when my parents get here, leaving me alone with them, and then you don't come back for hours! I had Steve running your name through the system! We thought you were hurt!" she finished as she slapped the brunette's arm.

"I… I… I'm sorry. This has been really overwhelming for me"

Gail sighed deeply. "We can talk about this later. Can you please go help Jane get dressed? And then can you get dressed so we can have dinner? The kids are starving and my parents are still here and I want them to leave. That will only happen if I feed them because my mother will never pass up the opportunity to dig at me about my cooking, or the kids manners, or how I _still _haven't lost _all_ the baby weight."

Holly nodded and headed up the stairs, deciding that all she can do today is coast along. She could hear the sweet voice of a child singing "Frosty the Snowman" so she followed it to its owner. The little girl was singing her song in her pajamas while she played with her new toys. She stopped singing and looked up when Holly reached to door.

The brunette smiled at the little girl who just looked at her.

"So" she attempted to be as motherly as she could, "why don't we get you dressed? Grandma and Grandpa are here and we'll have dinner soon but not until we're in our nice clothes" she tried in a sing song voice.

"You're not my real mom, are you?" the blonde haired child asked.

"No, I'm not" Holly replied, so happy that someone finally understood she could cry, even if it was just a five year old girl. "I'm a scientist and I run an entire department at a university in the United States, kind of close to Disney Land" she told her with relief.

"Where's my real mom?" she asked, concern washing over her face.

"I don't know. But don't worry, she loves you very much and I'm sure she'll be back very soon" she said as she knelt in front of the girl to comfort her. The girl, Jane, stared at Holly. Then, to the pathologist's surprise, she reached out and started touching Holly's face.

"They did a pretty good job" she said, looking the brunette over.

"Who did?"

"The aliens, in the mother ship. You look just like her. Promise you won't kidnap me and my brother and sister and plant stuff in our brains?" she asked.

"Absolutely" Holly replied, thinking this kid has to be Gail's by how morbid her thoughts are at such a young age.

"Okay" Jane smiled, "welcome to Earth. I'll help you as much as I can".


	3. Chapter 3

The Family Woman-Part 3

The next few weeks after Christmas were not exactly smooth for Holly and her 'new' family, but she adapted a lot better than she figured she would have. She'd always wanted kids, but having them sprung on her like that was not really what she'd had in mind. _Thank God for Jane, _Holly thought every time the five year old corrected her when she was about to make a blunder.

Like in the morning. It was Holly's duty to get the kids up, make sure that Sophie left for high school in time, and to drive the two younger ones to elementary school. On the first day back from Christmas holidays, she looked to Jane and said "what do I do now?"

"You go to work" she replied.

"Oh. Where is that?"

"At the clinic in the mall. The one by the food court"

"I work at a clinic? What do I do there?" she asked.

"You make sick people better, the ones that don't have doctors. That's what you tell us" she replied as she shrugged and climbed out of the van.

"Awesome" she groaned as she headed out to the mall near their home, the one she passed on her way to the airport.

She was grateful when she arrived that the receptionist greeted her by name and let her know that she does in fact have patients, that she isn't a crazy person trying to impersonate a physician, waltzing into a walk-in clinic. There was certainly a moment in the parking lot when she thought that she might not actually work here hit her.

She walked into the clinic not really sure what to do or where to go. She was met by a large sign over the reception that announced "The Peck Walk-In Clinic". _Of course I work for my in-laws_ she thought, annoyed.

She was standing there taking in the generic waiting room when a young woman approached her. "Oh good, you're here Dr. Stewart! Mr. Paige is back. He's in room 1. He says his weird rash is back" she mumbled with a disgusted look on her face. "And that lady with the twins that were projectile vomiting? They're back. Room 2. And your wife called. She wants to know if you can bring Sophie to her driving lessons later" the woman told Holly as she handed her a stack of files.

Holly stopped walking alongside what she assumed must be the receptionist. She was used to stress, to dealing with a million problems needing a million solutions, but never had she had to deal with family obligations on such a basic level before. Her wife. Her wife needed her to pick up their child. Her wife. Their child.

"Ummm… could you ask her where and when to pick up Sophie? What the hell kind of rash are we talking here? And should I see these twins first, so they don't wreck the place?" she asked with an unsure expression on her face. The receptionist looked at her questioningly.

"Mr. Paige? He's in here at least once a week. And you pick up Sophie most days for her driving lessons. And the twins aren't puking this time. You asked their mother to bring them back for a follow up. Don't you remember?"

"Right" Holly said in agreement, not wanting to upset the receptionist further. "Sorry, I'm just really tired." Holly took the rest of the files from her and headed down the hall to where she assumed there will be an office with her name on the door. Thankfully, there wass. Sort of.

"Dr. Peck-Stewart. Of course she convinced to put her name first."

Mr. Paige did in fact have a weird rash, and worse still, was that it was in a weird place. If she had even for a moment doubted her sexuality, Mr. Paige solidified her lesbianism for her. The twins were very cute and sweet, but despite being a 'mother' herself, Holly felt ill-at-ease with these patients. She was shocked when one of the toddlers grabbed her glasses. The twins' mother gave her a reproachful look. Holly smiled sheepishly.

"It's been a while since my kids were this age" she told the other woman, which seemed to placate her.

It had been a long morning, followed by an excruciating afternoon of being coughed on, spit at, and yelled at for not prescribing enough medication, and once for prescribing too much. She was sitting in her office with the lights off massaging the headache from her temples when the phone rang.

"Holly?" the young voice asked.

"Yes?" she said, not sure who it was.

"Are you coming to get me? I'm going to be late for my lessons!" the exasperated voice said. Sophie.

_Shit._

"I'm sorry Sophie, I got caught up with a patient. What's the address?"

"The address? I don't know! I'm at school!" she said and hung up.

Having remembered at least to collect Jane and Felix from school, she walked into the house to a skulking Sophie. She apologized for her mistake, promising to make it up to her by renting a fancy car for the two of them to drive around this weekend. Sophie was ecstatic. Holly was proud that she had resolved that situation. At least she thought she had.

"How are we going to afford a nice car for the weekend, Lunchbox?" her wife asked once the teenager had left the room.

"What do you mean?"

"Money. Cash. Moolah. We don't have any and I'm not asking my parents again."

Money hadn't been a concern for Holly since medical school some time ago. She was not rich, but she was certainly well off, and most importantly, didn't have dependents to worry about.

"I'm a doctor and you're a police officer. We can't be that badly off" she replied, asking more than stating. Gail started to laugh.

"You mean you work in the walk-in clinic where your bleeding heart donates almost as much time as you take paid and I'm a desk cop, not to mention we're still paying for our fertility treatments for Felix and Jane. Yeah, we're loaded."

"You ride the desk?" the brunette asked, shocked the blonde had even considered it, let alone agreed to it.

"Duh" she said. _This is where Sophie gets it_ Holly thought. "Ever since that guy shot at me while I was pregnant. We both agreed our family meant more than our jobs. So you quit the morgue after the mob incident that almost got you killed, and I moved to the desk when I was almost killed. As if you don't remember this!

"Anyway, your gift is upstairs, but I'm ready for my surprise any time" Gail said with a wide smile. Holly just stared at her, not knowing what else to do.

"I, uh, I'm not ready to give you the surprise yet" she replied, hoping to buy herself some time.

Gail's face fell. "You forgot, didn't you?"

"No, no, it's just, not quite ready yet" she tried to steady her voice this time, say it with more conviction. Gail nodded, a dejected look on her face.

"I never thought you'd do this" she said, the hurt unmistakable in her voice. Gail turned and left the room. Holly wanted to scream in frustration. She kept making bumbling errors, mistakes she knew she'd never make under normal circumstances, letting everyone around her down. It was excruciating. Now she'd hurt Gail and she didn't even know why.

She turned to head to the kitchen, hoping some wine, or better yet, hard liquor would help. She nearly bowled over Jane along the way, who was shaking her head at Holly.

"What?" Holly asked.

"You forgot your anniversary" she said simply. "Mommy usually makes a big surprise for mom. She says it's a very special day, the day that you both started our family."

_Fuck._

"I have to make this up to her, big time" Holly said to the girl.

"Big, BIG time" Jane responded.

"Right. Do you think you and your brother sister could help me?"

Jane smiled brightly.

Two hours later, Felix, dressed in the only suit that fit him, knocked on his parents' bedroom door. "Mom? Can you come out here?" Gail, a softie for her children, could never say no when they spoke so sweetly.

"What's up, buddy?" she asked as she opened the door in her pajamas. She took him in, hair slicked back, wearing in a navy blue suit. He just held his arm out for her to take. Gail smiled and took it.

He brought her downstairs, where the lights in the dining room where turned off, and candles had been placed all around. The finest plates and flatware they owned were set for two on the table, with what she recognized as one of their silk sheets as a table cloth. Jane stood next to the table in her favourite dress, with her hair awkward pinned to one side (she insisted she was a big girl now who could do her own hair), with a rose in her hand.

"This is for you mom, from us" she said as her brother brought Gail to her seat.

Gail smiled at her youngest daughter and kindly accepted the flower. Holly entered the room, wearing her pea coat, the jacket she saved for special occasions. Her cheeks were rosy from the cold night air and had a bag in her hand. Just as the blonde was about to protest her lack of formal dress, the brunette threw off her coat to reveal her own set of pajamas.

"I didn't want you to feel underdressed" she said.

Sophie walked in wearing in her winter formal dress, carrying a silver tray with their dinner on it. Fettuccini alfredo, the only thing Gail could make when they married, and apparently, the first meal the blonde made for her wife on the first night in their new house. Sophie dished out plates for both women, smiled and then pulled out the ketchup and set it in front of Gail.

Once the kids left, Holly smiled at Gail, in awe of how even though a decade had passed, she was as beautiful now as she had been when they were dating.

"I can't believe you're still as beautiful now as you were when we started dating" she blurt out before she had the chance to censor the thought. The candid statement made Holly blush, having not meant to say it out loud.

"How do you do that?" Gail asked. "How do you look at me like you're seeing me for the first time?"

Holly stared at her wife, not sure what else to say, knowing she'd never be able to explain herself. She decided to change the subject instead.

"I found this in my office today, in one of my drawers. I know I've been acting… weird lately. I just wanted to give this to you so you'd know I am still in this" she said as she passed the bag to Gail. "I didn't have time to wrap it."

Gail opened up the bag, not sure what Holly could have found in her desk that would be so special on their anniversary. She pulled it out and saw right away that it was a framed photo. It was a beautiful black and white picture of the blonde. You couldn't really see her face, the photo was taken from above, but you could see her arms wrapped tenderly around her swollen belly. She was eight months pregnant with Jane.

Holly looks across the table at Gail. "This is the photo that goes with the one in our bedroom. I'm not sure why it was in my desk, but I love it and I want you to have it."

Tears were rolling down Gail's cheek. "Thank you" she whispered.


	4. Chapter 4

The Family Woman-Part 4

Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, and Holly had fallen into the routine that was her new life. She hadn't missed anymore pick-ups or drop offs at school, had made a point of looking up everyone's birth certificates so she didn't miss any birthdays, and Holly had even attended parent teacher conferences and volunteered at Felix and Jane's school.

There was only one area in her new life that she was having a hard time adapting to: her love life. Or more specifically, the intimate parts of her love life. Just as it had been when they were dating, Gail was ravenous when it came to sex. The difference was, now that they had kids, they had to be opportunistic about where and when they had sex. This often led to the blonde surprising Holly by literally jumping her bones.

In theory, Holly was thrilled; she had a beautiful wife that after ten years still found her attractive. She had a healthy relationship with an active sex life. The downside, and it was a real bummer, was that the brunette felt like she was taking advantage, like she was being dishonest.

She knew Gail couldn't understand so she tried instead to dissuade her, saying she was exhausted. With trying to adjust to her new life and responsibilities it was true, but that had only worked a few times before Gail told her that it was fine, that she'd just "help" Holly fall asleep. Then she winked at her. Holly shifted her excuse to a headache, so Gail found some studies that showed that sex, particularly an orgasm, is a great way to relieve tension caused by headaches. After that excuse failed, she told Gail that she was on her period. It wasn't a total lie, she was expecting it any day now. What she wasn't expecting was Gail's answer.

"No you don't" the blonde stated matter-of-factly. "Unless it came early and in that case, who cares? It's not like we haven't done it before" Gail continued as she started kissing Holly's neck.

Holly recoiled, not sure what else to do. She wanted the blonde, and she knew technically it wasn't wrong, but there was a small part of her, growing smaller by the minute, that knew she was not the 'Holly' that Gail had married.

"Holly, why don't you want me anymore?" the hurt in Gail's voice stung like a bee.

"I do want you, Gail, more than you know"

"What is it then?"

"I… I don't think I can explain it"

"You don't love me anymore?"

The look on Gail's face was the same one Holly remembered from ten years ago; the sincerity, the honesty, but mostly, the vulnerability. She realized that she had loved her then, and still did now.

"I love you more and more ever day" the brunette told her wife as she pulled her into a deep kiss.

Spending time with her new family had transitioned from a shock to the system and physically and mentally taxing to enjoyable. She was surprised that these kids really felt like her own.

Particularly Felix, the precocious boy with head always deep in a book, or out in the yard with the magnifying glass and microspore that his mothers had gotten him for his eighth birthday. Holly would spend lazy Sunday afternoons with him in the backyard catching and identifying different species of insects, while the rest of the family was piled on the couch watching movies and eating cheese puffs (her love of cheese puffs another trait Gail passed on to their children).

The girls were especially disgusted when Holly and Felix, the child who could be her spitting image, would go out to collect bugs in the rain. They tried to explain to the others that the ecology was vastly different during precipitation but their collective looks of disgust made it obvious they weren't interested either way. It suited Holly and Felix just fine, it was their together time and both cherished it.

Things at work were turning around for Holly too. She was hitting her stride, having felt rusty returning to living patients and treating their maladies rather than simply identifying them in the dead. Not to say that it's been easy for her, but Holly was certainly thankful that she'd only had to deal with coughs and pains and rashes, that she hadn't woken up as a surgeon.

She had managed to make a lot of positive changes for the clinic. She found a few additional grants and donors, which meant she was able to buy some additional equipment and it had been needed direly. She really was enjoying running the clinic, the challenges of operating a walk-in clinic were proving to be a lot more like running her department at the university than she had anticipated.

The similarities between being in charge of the clinic and being in charge of a large department at one of California's state schools always made her wonder what had happened to her position. She had called the university a few times to see if she could get her voicemail. She was looking for anything other than a five year old girl thinking she was an alien to confirm she'd been transplanted into this life. She had had no such luck. She kept getting the voicemail of her second in command, saying he was the director of the department. _God, that guy is such a moron_ she thought as she listened to his voice claim her title as his own.

But as the months progressed, she thought less and less about her old life until she stopped thinking about California all together. She had become so involved and enamoured by her new life she didn't even miss her old one anymore and had almost forgotten it entirely. She accepted this was her life now. Her first patient that day brought it all back.

The man was impeccably dressed in a fashionable suit, but looked like he had seen better days.

"How are you today, sir?" she asked out of habit. The man was obviously not well.

"Oh, you know, I'm in the middle of a huge case and my medical examiner is an idiot who is ruining everything, and now I think I have a hernia. You wouldn't happen to know how to tell if a person drowned in fresh or saltwater, would you?" he said with the grimace of someone trying to make a joke but was in obvious pain.

"Well, research shows that saltwater is twice as lethal as freshwater. You victim would have drowned in half the time" she replied as she started her examination.

The man took in a sharp breath, in surprise of her knowledge or in pain, Holly wasn't sure. "Oh my God! It makes so much sense now" he mumbled to himself.

Holly knew she'd lost his attention so she continued pressing along his abdomen. She was nearly complete when he groaned in pain.

"I don't think it's a hernia, but I'm sending you for an ultrasound to be sure" she told him as she started pulling out a referral form.

"What if he was drowned in saltwater but then placed in freshwater? Would you be able to tell?" he asked as he did up the buttons on his shirt.

"Well, if he drowned in saltwater you would expect to see severe pulmonary oedema and hypernatraemia which causes haemoconcentration. You'd also expect to see increased salt volume in the blood. A freshwater drowning victim, you'd expect to see haemolysis and severe dilution of the blood with a marked increase of blood volume. Most notably, you'd see the alteration or denaturation of the protective surfactant lining the alveolar walls of the lung" she replied as she handed him his referral form. The man looked the form over.

"Dr. Peck-Stewart, I want you to take my card. I'm Jacob Smith, a partner at the law firm of Jones, Smith, and Jones downtown. We've been searching for someone of your caliber for some time. I'd love to have a chat with you about this position. We're desperate for someone with your expertise. There is a lot of travel involved but the compensation is generous. Think about it" he said as he walked out the door.

Holly nodded and stared at the card in her hand, unsure of what to think.


	5. Chapter 5

Part 5

Holly couldn't remember a thing about the drive home. She just knew that she needed to get there, needed to speak to her wife, share the great news that they'd be moving downtown, that she'd be starting a prestigious job. She burst into the front door, smiling ear to ear. Gail was in the kitchen, working on a puzzle with Felix and Jane.

"Gail!" the exuberant expression on Holly's face was evident by her wife's growing smile.

"What's up, Nerd? Good day?" she asked as she placed a piece of the puzzle.

"The best! Pack your bags! We're moving!" Holly exclaimed.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Gail replied.

"Gail, honey! I was offered a job downtown with a big law firm! We can send the kids to private school and we can buy a penthouse apartment!"

Gail got up from the table, realizing Holly might actually be serious about this. She didn't want to have this conversation in front of the kids. She took the brunette into the living room.

"Why would we send the kids to private school? They already go to a great school, one that they love, and do you really think Sophie will want to transfer high schools?" the blonde asked.

"Gail, we're not talking about good schools, we're talking about the best schools in the country!" Holly was surprised that she was having to convince her wife this was a good idea. Gail hated suburbia; Holly thought she would have been thrilled to move back to downtown Toronto.

"And it's not just amazing schools" Holly continued "it's the extras as well. We won't have to shovel the sidewalk anymore!"

"If you hate shoveling the sidewalk so much, get a snow blower!" Gail bit back.

"This isn't only about that. I'd finally be able to get my career going. This would be such a huge accomplishment for me. You know that forensics is my passion, I'd have a chance to move into that field and start my career over. You said so yourself, we don't have any money! This would change that" Holly was becoming irked that Gail was resisting what she could only see as positive change.

"Starting your career over? Holly, this isn't just about you or the money! We have a family now, spending time together is more important than our bank statement"

"Gail, you're not understanding what I'm saying. This is an opportunity for us to change everything! We can finally have the life that other people envy"

"Holly" she said to her wife with a look of pity, "we already do."

Later that evening, after baths and bed time stories, of making sure Sophie finished her assignment and Holly helping her study for her upcoming math test, the two women were sitting in the their living room.

"You know, I've been thinking a lot your job offer" Gail started, "and how it would change our lives. I honestly never thought we'd leave this house. I imagined us all old and wrinkly out back, me sitting on the deck and you in the garden. I had visions of our grandchildren visiting us in this house, of Christmas mornings opening gifts together. But if it means that much to you, if you need this, I'll go. I'll take the kids from the school they know and love, I'll bribe Sophie with some electronics, and we'll move. I'll take myself from the only home we've ever shared together and we'll get the condo and live downtown. I'll do it because I love you, you're the woman I want to spend my life with, and our address doesn't matter. I choose us" she stated simply with a smile before leaving Holly to her thoughts.

Holly wasn't used to factoring other people into her decisions; she wasn't a selfish person, but it had been a long time since she had been in a long term relationship. She didn't have kids, and any decisions she made at the university were to serve the common good of the university, which always served her purpose. Never had she had one of her employees making the sacrifices that Gail was talking about, and it struck Holly that she didn't know what to do now. She mulled over Gail's words for a while before deciding she'd need to talk this out more with her wife.

On her way to bed, she noticed a light peeking out from underneath Jane and Felix's door frame. She stuck her head in to find Jane still awake, sitting beside her bedside lamp, reading a Clifford book. Holly crawled in next to her while Jane read the book aloud, helping her with words that were harder to sound out.

Once they finished the book, Holly tucked the little girl in again, and kissed her goodnight, when she felt two little arms wrap tightly around her neck.

"I knew you'd come back" Jane whispered into Holly's ear.

"I love you, Jane" she told her daughter as she held her tight.

"I love you too, mommy"

Holly turned out the light, but felt the need to check on Felix while she was there. She leaned over him to brush the hair from his eyes and to take the glasses off his face. She could feel, while she was doing this, that he had a bit of a fever. The doctor in her wanted to start treatment now, before he was complaining of symptoms so he wouldn't feel too rotten in the days to come. She checked the medicine cabinet for children's ibuprofen, but there weren't any left. She didn't want to wake her son so he could take the tablets now, but she wanted him to take them first thing in the morning, so she put on her shoes and jacket and made her way to the local convenience store.

Once she'd found what she was looking for, she headed for the cashier. Who was standing there but Mona, working the till. _Damn woman, _Holly thought as she walked up to the register.

"Dr. Stewart getting children's medicine. All domesticated now, I see. You really figured some things out, huh?" Mona said with a bright smile.

"You're not sending me back" Holly almost growled. "You can't send me back. You can't keep doing this, coming in and out of people's lives. It's not right!"

"A glimpse is by definition an impermanent thing, Holly."

The doctor didn't know what to say, and felt irate that this life was about to be taken away from her after having had it thrust upon her. She angrily threw enough cash onto the counter. She looked at Mona before she walked out the door and said "I have kids. I'm going home."

Holly was terrified of falling asleep, knowing full well that when she did, she'd be thrown back into the life she'd had before, a life she no longer wanted. She watched her wife sleep as she sat in the arm chair in the corner of their room, tears silently falling down her cheeks. She was so angry that she had missed the chance to be with Gail, to have this life, but she was even angrier that it was going to be pulled from her grasp now that she did have it.

The exhaustion eventually took over, and Holly fell asleep.

The sound of dubbed laugh tracks and Sam and Norm's voices were the sounds that woke Holly. She looked around the room, glasses still on her face, and realized she was back in her apartment in California. This wasn't surprising, but it was still devastating. She couldn't believe that in the short time she had spent with Gail, Sophie, Felix, and Jane, how much she had learned to love them, and how deeply she felt the loss of their presence in her life.

She was desperate to see if she could find them, if somehow her wife and children existed in this life too. She tried calling Gail's cell, only to be told by a robotic voice that the number was not in service. She tried the landline next, and was ecstatic when the line started ringing.

"Hello?" the voice of an old man filled her ear.

"Bill? Is this Bill Peck?"

"I'm sorry, dear. You have the wrong number"

"Wait!" Holly shouted before the man had a chance to disconnect, "I'm looking for Gail. Is there a Gail Peck who lives there? Or anywhere in the neighbourhood?"

"I'm sorry, dear. I don't know any Gails or Pecks. Goodbye"

Holly quietly nodded as she pressed 'end' on her phone. She didn't know what else to do so she accepted the fact that she was back where she started. She was furious with Mona, not sure why she would be shown this glimpse if nothing could ever come of it. She was irate with herself for ever letting Gail go. She wanted to smash every dish she owned on the off chance it might relieve the feeling of unbearable sorrow and emptiness.

Instead she decided she better finish the budget.

"I'm going to finish this budget, alone. Then I'm going to eat dinner, alone. Then I'm going to go to bed, alone. Because this is my life, this is reality. I am utterly alone" she said aloud, to no one.

She was nearly finished the budget and about a third of the way through her Pho, when her cell started ringing. She was about to ignore the call based on the rational that she better get used to spinster-hood sooner rather than later, when she checked the incoming number. Area code 416. Toronto.

"Hello?" she answered tentatively.

"Hi… is this Holly Stewart?" the voice on the other end, a voice that sounded so much like Gail's, asked her.

"Speaking. Who's this?"

"Well, it's Gail Peck" Holly's heart nearly burst through her chest. "I just wanted to let you know that I'm working a case that's led to San Francisco. My colleagues tell me you're the best pathologist in California, not that I'm surprised. Anyway, we have a body down there that's a key part of my case. I was wondering if you'd agree to do the autopsy for me? I know it's a lot to ask, and I know you must be very busy, but I-"

"I'd love to" Holly nearly shouted into the phone.

"Oh, okay" Gail replied with a nervous laughter. "I really thought I'd have to convince you."

"No, I'll do it. I'm glad you called, actually"

"Really? I was worried you would hang up on me"

"Why would I hang up on you?"

"I honestly don't know, I was just nervous, I guess. It's been such a long time and then I call out of the blue to ask for a huge favour" Gail told her.

"It has been a long time. How have you been? Are you married?"

"I'm good. I'm in charge of Guns and Gangs now. No, never married. You married?"

"Not exactly" Holly replied. "Do you have any kids?"

"No, I don't" Gail said in a soft voice. It struck Holly that Sophie's adoption must have fallen through, the hurt in the blonde's voice detectable. Holly's heart broke for her.

"Me neither" Holly told her, wanting to move past any painfully memories. "Listen, I'd really love to see you. I know this sounds crazy, but I really feel like we missed a chance at something, you and I. I don't expect anything from you, but would you like to go for coffee?"

Holly could hear the hesitation on the other end.

"Coffee would be nice. I'd really like that."


End file.
